The aromas of Berlin.

Dan and I played tennis today, our first match on our favourite surface, clay. The sun was out and it was warm..whilst we were onstage in Hanover last night, Bernie kindly arranged a court, very near to the hotel as it happened. A very small outdoor and indoor club in the heart of the city, perfect. Dominika kindly drove us there and back. I felt a little sorry for MK as he would have loved to play too but his injury, although much better now, prevents such exercise. We had a spot of breakfast and then I put on the Germany match. Oh dear, worse even that England's sorry performance against Algeria. Thankfully, even though I love watching it, I'm not one of those who gets obsessed to the point of delirium with football madness.



We left the hotel for the venue and soundcheck was scheduled for 5pm. Another O2 arena, situated across the road from another bit of the old Berlin wall. This time, quite a large arena but strangely, the back stage area had an identical smell to the TUI arena in Hannover. (apologies for inconsistent spelling of this city) It smelled like a sewer! The dressing room toilet was the worst and five minutes before we went on stage a couple of staff burst into the dressing room to administer some kind of chemical solution. They were ushered out within seconds by Matt, so rudely interrupted in the toilet. All very helpful if not a little over eager. The O2 is clearly a wonderful, purpose-built, multi-functional venue, completely devoid of character with an abundance of staff, all of whom were courteous and helpful... it was just that smell!



On stage, the aroma was slightly more pleasant, with the occasional whiff of front row perfume and after-shave combo. In all seriousness, the show tonight had an added 'buzz', maybe because we had to hold the show for ten minutes to allow the 12,000 crowd to come in. Pete said the pre-show atmosphere was great in the hall. As we made our way through the set, the atmosphere grew more and more excited and by the end they were once again all standing and squashed up to the front of the stage, smiling faces everywhere. It does make you feel very honoured to be there at all and none of us ever forget that.

We were talking about all that stuff in the dressing room earlier and while Mark was doing his daily lithograph signings, Pete asked Mark if there was ever a defining moment that he could remember when he felt he 'had arrived'. Mark said "yes, my defining moment was sitting on the floor of a flat in Turnpike Lane (I was sleeping on it as well) and picking a cheap guitar and realising my playing style was beginning to happen". I was then asked the same question and I didn't need to think about it. In my teens, whenever I went to see a band that was on tour at Hammersmith Odeon or such like, I always thought how fantastic it would be to be actually IN the band and when I landed my first UK tour, with Cockney Rebel, I clearly recall walking into the dressing room at the first gig and thinking...my god, I'm IN THE BAND! I can honestly say I still think the same thing every time we show up at a venue.

A shot of my slotted riser, accommodating accurate volume pedal placement.



Glenn was trying out a new Victoria amp of Mark's. It sounded great.

How many strings tour competition

Thanks to all who entered the competition

The total number of strings on all instruments carried buy the tour is 287. Stage Right (Kevin) 83, Stage Left (TC) 114 and MK guitars (Mr. Saggers) 90. The winner is ALBERTO ANTONETTI

Instructions

The question was...Guess the total number of strings used on all stringed instruments carried on this tour. This includes basses, ethnic instruments and violins.

First prize, one of Danny's drum heads, used on this tour, signed by ALL the band.

Please note there is a known issue with the competition login procedure which is being resolved